About Us

Hi! We’re The Melbourne Pen Show Inc., a not for profit association incorporated in Victoria (BSB 65 559 607 166), run by a dedicated team of volunteers who share a passion for fine writing instruments.

We organise and promote the annual Melbourne Pen & Stationery Show (formerly the Melbourne Pen Show) as a community event, to provide education and promote awareness of the history, development and cultural impact of writing instruments and their role in society. We encourage community interest and participation in relation to all aspects of writing instruments for leisure and hobby activities.

The first Melbourne Pen Show was held in 1998. The event has been held every year since, only pausing for two years (2020-2021) due to COVID-19. 2025 will be our 25th Show!

Want to get involved? We’d love to hear from you!

Show Committee

As members of the community, we work year-round to bring together collectors, creators, and enthusiasts for a vibrant event that celebrates fountain pens, handmade pens, inks, stationery, and vintage treasures. With a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and creativity, we aim to make the Melbourne Pen and Stationery Show an inclusive and welcoming experience for both seasoned collectors and newcomers alike.

  • Aileen Smith

    Art Director

    A member of the Melbourne pen community since 2016, Aileen has a particular passion for Japanese brands, especially Sailor. While she appreciates fountain pens, her true enthusiasm lies in collecting inks. With a collection of around 500 bottles of Japanese-exclusive inks, she jokingly admits it’s “more ink than any one person can use in a lifetime.”

  • Desi Rentos

    Secretary

    Desi was given a Sheaffer Calligraphy fountain pen set instead of a box of 72 coloured pencils for her 13th birthday. This sparked a lifelong interest for drawing with pen and ink, and scrapbook journaling predominantly with fountain pens.

    Desi says this led inevitably to collecting fountain pens (Esterbrooks in particular) and ink, but she is a lightweight compared to Kevin and Aileen.

  • Ernest Tong

    Online Marketer

    Empowered and indulged by his mom as kid with all the stationery he wanted, Ernest’s love for fountain pens and stationery began a long time ago and turned fully fledged when he found out he can buy stuff with his own money!

    A coffee person, a photographer and an ecommerce marketer – those are just hobbies to justify the means.

  • Kevin Yank

    President/Treasurer

    Kevin bought his first fountain pen, a LAMY Safari All Black, in 2018. This sparked a fascination with the German brand’s design history, and a completist accumulation of every model in every finish, which he affectionately refers to as “the LAMY museum.”

    By day, Kevin is a software engineer specialising in web user interfaces. He also enjoys photography, performs improvised theatre, and is an avid fan of Star Trek and video games.

  • Leo Fok

    Southeast Asia Correspondent

    Regularly posting as inquisitivequill on Instagram, this former Sailor addict now chases Pilots as well as the occasional needlepoint and oblique triple broad nib.

    A regular attendee at the Tokyo and Tainan pen shows, and having travelled all over Japan hitting up as many stationery stores as possible over the past decade, he would love nothing more than to share all his love of pens, paper and ink down under.

    His motto is “Buy now, regret later.”

  • Max Braudé

    President Emeritus

    What does a retired skydiver do for fun? Take up aerobatics? Yes. Collect fountain pens? Unlikely! Well, that’s just what happened.

    Max has always used a Parker fountain pen since “borrowing” his first Parker 61 and still uses one.

    One day he was given a very nice Parker 61 Flighter set in the box as a gift from a flea market. One thing led to another, and a large collection of upmarket Parker pens, some pencils and the odd (apologies) ballpoint.

    Max led the Melbourne Pen Show committee as President 2016–2024.